


Where Are You?

by kenhinacanon



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Eventual Romance, M/M, Magic, Warlocks, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 10:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenhinacanon/pseuds/kenhinacanon
Summary: Sequel toWho Are You?





	Where Are You?

Doyoung squints against the harsh light of his desk lamp as he sits up in bed. A pounding in his temples makes him groan. He checks his phone for the time. It’s nearly seven. The next day. 

Doyoung holds his head in his hands as he tries to recall the events of the previous day. How did he get back to his room? All he can remember is practicing with Taeil in the woods. The woods…

The fear from being attacked slithers into his memory. He remembers being pressed against a tree, his life slipping through his fingers as his inability to fight back was rendered useless by his pure exhaustion.

He also remembers the wave of relief crashing into him as the weight of the witch hunter was lifted and his life spared by… who? He racks through his memory for a visual of his savior. 

Eyes. He remembers his eyes, how angry he had looked as he took the body of his assailant away. A shiver runs down Doyoung’s spine. 

He has to find him. He has no idea what he looks like, if he even goes to Spellbound. But he has to find him. Doyoung never got the chance to say thank you, and a life debt is something he would rather not owe to a complete stranger. 

He gets out of bed slowly, dizziness causing him to stumble. He runs through his contact list on his phone, searching for any name that could help him. Ten might know who he is, but it doesn’t seem likely, what with Doyoung knowing little to nothing about the guy’s appearance. 

He gets to Kun’s name and he pauses. Kun works at the market, so he sees witches and warlocks all the time. Would he be able to help Doyoung? Would he know someone that roams the woods and kills witch hunters? 

Rather than try to call him, Doyoung slides on his shoes and heads out of his dorm towards the market. Seven is when Kun usually leaves his booth, so Doyoung picks up his pace as he gets to the outskirts of campus and into town.

His pace slows the closer he gets to Kun’s stand as embarrassment slams into his chest. What are the chances of Kun knowing exactly who he’s talking about? He doesn’t even remember what the guy looks like. He feels foolish running around looking for someone who clearly has no desire to be found. 

He gets to Kun’s booth as he’s throwing some packages in the back. “You’re not here to pick up an order, are you?” he says.

Doyoung shakes his head, the embarrassment from earlier making him hesitant. Kun waits patiently with an eyebrow raised. Doyoung doesn’t even know how to pose the question. _Hey, have you seen any warlocks around that kill witch hunters?_

“I’m looking for someone,” he starts.

“Do they go to Spellbound?” Kun says. He slings his backpack over his shoulder.

“I don’t know,” Doyoung says, feeling dumber by the second. “I was attacked yesterday, and someone saved me. I’m looking for him. To thank him.”

Kun turns wide eyes on Doyoung. “You were attacked?” he says. “Are you okay? Was it a witch hunter?”

Doyoung nods. “I’m fine,” he says. “I just need to find him.” 

“Did you get a good look at him?” Kun says. He leaves his booth and joins Doyoung outside to start walking slowly back to Spellbound. 

Doyoung shakes his head. The image of his savior’s eyes reappears in his mind. “He has brown eyes and floppy brown hair. I think.” 

“That could be anyone,” Kun says with a little laugh. They get back to campus, stopping at the crossroads to their two separate dorms. 

Doyoung feels frustrated with himself. There’s no way he’s going to be able to find this guy without a physical description. He racks his memory for anything else, anything he can tell Kun so he doesn’t feel like an even bigger idiot than he already does. 

“He was kind of lean,” he says. “Skinny.”

Kun laughs again. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” he says. “But I’ll need a little more than that.”

“He kills witch hunters, I think,” Doyoung says in a rush. “Like, regularly.”

Kun’s eyebrows raise. “What makes you think that?” he says. 

Doyoung waves the question off. He wants to go back to his room and hide under the covers for a few days, until this humiliation wears off. “I don’t know, just a guess,” he says. 

Kun pats him on the back. “I’ll let you know if I find anything,” he says before waving and walking in the direction of his dorm. 

Doyoung gets back to his room and stares at the ceiling from his bed. Kun knows pretty much everyone that goes to Spellbound. Doyoung can’t remember anything about his hero besides his eyes, the anger that had burned in them. 

He flips over onto his stomach, letting a frustrated yell die in his pillow. He doesn’t want to owe this guy anything, much less a life debt. He doesn’t think he can stomach the burden. 

He has to find this guy. And soon. 

***

Yuta meanders through the market, stopping at each stand to greet their vendors. Some of his classmates from Spellbound wave to him as he makes his way to Kun’s stand.

“Hey, Yuta,” Kun says. He reaches behind him for Yuta’s order of fresh coffee. “Did you do the Apothecary homework?” 

Yuta laughs as he slaps his money down. “You know I didn’t,” he says.

Kun can only roll his eyes as he waves Yuta off to tend to his next customer. Yuta tucks his coffee under his arm and begins to whistle as he walks back to campus. 

It’s been two weeks since he killed that witch hunter. It hasn’t been very hard to avoid the guy he saved since the guy isn’t a very good detective. 

Kim Doyoung. Second year, same as him. His senior, Taeil, is his tutor. He has the same ESP powers as Yuta does. 

He knows Doyoung is looking for him, but something in his gut is telling him to avoid the confrontation. He saved the guy’s life; that’s a burden he’s having a hard time carrying around. 

He keeps a strong radar going at all times around him when he’s wandering campus. Because he and Doyoung have the same powers, Yuta is able to sense the familiarity and walk the other way if need be, which is exhausting him. 

He feels like Doyoung has expectations of him. That he’s expecting something to come out of Yuta saving him, be it a friendship, an acquaintanceship. Yuta knows Doyoung is only going to look at him as the guy who saved his life. He doesn’t want to build a relationship on that imbalance of power. 

“There’s something on your mind,” his best friend, Johnny, says. “What is it?”

They’re sitting in the dining hall eating dinner. During Yuta’s two weeks of monitoring, Doyoung hasn’t been in the dining hall at the same time as him, so he feels the most at ease here. 

Yuta shakes his head before he chugs his glass of water to think of an excuse. “I spent my last few dollars on coffee today, so I’m feeling it a little bit,” he says, which isn’t a lie.

“You’re thinking about Doyoung, aren’t you?” Johnny says. 

Yuta didn’t tell Johnny about saving Doyoung at first. That hadn’t been the first witch hunter he killed, but directly saving someone is something he had never done before. Sure, he kills witch hunters, so that’s indirectly saving so many witches and warlocks, but saving Doyoung makes him feel like what he did was great, when it wasn’t. At the end of the day, he’s still killing people, no matter how dangerous they are. 

“Just talk to him,” Johnny says. “I’m sure he’s going crazy trying to find you.”

“I know he is,” Yuta says. He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just can’t.” 

“What’s stopping you?” Johnny shoves a piece of chicken into his mouth.

Yuta stares at his nearly empty plate. Johnny is his best friend. He usually tells Johnny everything, but something about this situation is tearing him up from the inside. He doesn’t know anything deeper than surface level about Doyoung, but he has this sinking feeling when it comes to him. Something in him is screaming at him to stay far away from Doyoung. 

“Just finish eating so we can leave,” Yuta says, finishing off his fries. 

***

Another week of Yuta’s normal schedule goes by, accompanied by Johnny’s insistence that he talk to Doyoung. Yuta waves him off each time, his annoyance growing more and more. 

It’s a Saturday, so the cafeteria at dinner is vacant. Most of the students usually ate at restaurants in town or visited home on the weekends. Yuta hasn’t been home since he got to Spellbound last year, so Johnny stays with him to keep him company.

“What if Doyoung comes tonight?” Johnny says around a mouthful of burger. 

“Cut it out,” Yuta says. He’s trying to keep his anger reined in, but hearing Doyoung’s name come out of Johnny’s mouth over and over is pushing him over the edge. 

“Would you talk to him?” Johnny says. “I’m sure he’s been-”

“Johnny, shut up.” Yuta looks his friend squarely in the face. “I don’t want to hear about Doyoung anymore. It’s been weeks. I’ve let it go, so please. No more.” 

Johnny shrugs, but says nothing more as he continues eating. 

Yuta hears the doors open, but he pays it no attention. He only looks up from his food when Johnny starts kicking him repeatedly in the shin. 

“What?” Yuta is close to screaming at Johnny before someone walks behind his friend. Someone familiar. Johnny can barely control his smile.

Doyoung gets in line for a burger, his stomach growling. After weeks of trying to find his hero, his drive has started to die down. Hunting someone down is exhausting, especially someone who is clearly going out of their way to not be found. His mind and heart grow heavier and heavier with each day that passes, with each moment the life debt swells. 

He grabs his tray and turns to find an empty table. Only two tables are occupied, so he slides into a booth near a window. He hates eating by himself, but Ten said he was meeting a friend, and he wasn’t going to starve.

“Hey, Doyoung!” His head whips up, fries dangling out of his mouth as Ten stands in front of him.

“You said you were meeting someone,” Doyoung practically pouts. 

“I am,” he says. He points over his shoulder at a table with two guys seated at it. “Want to join us?” 

Doyoung shrugs as he picks up his tray and follows Ten. 

“Johnny, Yuta, this is Doyoung.” Both guys look up. Johnny’s glee is radiating off of him in waves. Doyoung finds it hard to maintain eye contact. Yuta looks up and Doyoung’s powers kind of spark, causing a water bottle on the table to fall to the ground. 

Yuta wants nothing more than to throw out some kind of excuse and run from the cafeteria. He opens his mouth to say something about homework, but he feels another sharp kick to his shin. He glares at Johnny as Ten and Doyoung sit down. 

Yuta can feel Doyoung’s warmth from beside him. He can feel his powers reacting to Doyoung’s, so he attempts to keep them under control. Doyoung’s hands freeze, burger in hand, as his powers start ricocheting around the room, the fake plants rustling, the only other occupied table’s trays starting to slide off of the table. 

“What’s going on?” Ten says. “Does it feel weird to you guys?”

Johnny kicks Yuta again, and his anger boils over.

“Leave me alone, Johnny!” he yells. His power roils across the room, nearly everything floating into the air. Doyoung stands. Yuta has the same powers as him. He stares as Yuta calms down and the furniture settles back to the ground. 

Doyoung’s mind races. His heart is pounding nearly out of his chest as Yuta turns and they make eye contact. 

Images of the forest flash in his mind. The witch hunter’s body floating away. The eyes, those eyes full of anger. Doyoung takes a step back from the blow of recognition. Yuta’s eyes widen, fear replacing his anger. 

“It’s you,” Doyoung says, his voice barely above a whisper. “From the forest.”

Yuta shoves past Doyoung, making a beeline for the door. Doyoung turns, his mouth open to call out to him, but the door bangs shut before he gets the chance. 

“Sorry about him,” Johnny says, running after Yuta. 

Rocks are floating around Yuta as he walks towards… where is he going? He feels so angry, so frustrated, so exposed. Now Doyoung knows who he is, what he looks like, that he goes to Spellbound. Doyoung will never leave him alone. 

He didn’t ask to be a hero. 

***

Doyoung spends all of the next day badgering Ten with questions about Yuta, what classes he takes, why he’s never seen him before, if he can set up a meeting with the two of them. 

“I don’t really know Yuta like that,” Ten says. He’s laid out on Doyoung’s bed, an arm draped over his face. “Can we stop playing twenty questions and go to the market? We’ve been cooped up in here all day.” 

“Can you ask your other friend then?” Doyoung says, completely ignoring him. “Johnny, right?” 

Ten sits up, giving Doyoung a look. “You want to talk to Yuta that bad?” he says.

Doyoung stares back. “I need to talk to Yuta that bad,” he says. 

Ten nods. “Fair enough,” he says. “I’ll see what I can do.”

They spend the rest of the day doing last minute homework, much to Ten’s chagrin. They eat ramen stowed under Doyoung’s bed, filling their stomachs past capacity. 

Doyoung can’t get the image of Yuta’s fear-filled face out of his mind. Why was Yuta afraid of him? If anything, Doyoung should be afraid of him. He remembers the power he had felt in the cafeteria, how strong Yuta is. And he could tell that Yuta had been trying to keep himself under control. 

“I’m going back to my room,” Ten says, stuffing his books into his backpack. “I’ll talk to Johnny tomorrow.” 

“Thanks, Ten,” Doyoung says, and he means it. His friend has been nothing but supportive and helpful. Once he’s given Yuta his thanks, he’ll be done with him and be able to move on. But he will get rid of this life debt. 

The next day, he barely pays attention in his classes. During math, he gets a text from Ten telling him to go to the forest during lunch. Doyoung types back a response, his heart pounding with excitement, nerves, he can’t tell. 

Class is dismissed, and Doyoung pushes through the crowd of people in the hallway to get outside to the forest. He runs through a speech in his mind, making sure to say thank you at least three times, just to be sure. Yuta needs to know how grateful he is. 

He gets to the clearing where he first encountered Yuta. The fear from his attack threatens to make him turn around, but he stands and waits for his hero. 

Yuta thrusts his hands into his pockets as he makes his way to the forest. He doesn’t know why Johnny wants to practice out here, but he feels guilty for blowing up at him on Saturday, and he wants to apologize. 

Doyoung hears branches crunch and he whips his head around. Yuta’s preoccupied with his phone, so he doesn’t notice Doyoung standing there. 

Doyoung uses this opportunity to really look at him. His features are… pretty. That’s the only word he can think of to describe Yuta. He has pretty eyes, a pretty nose, a pretty mouth… 

Yuta looks up and stops dead in his tracks. He and Doyoung stare at each other for what feels like minutes. Yuta looks confused, which confuses Doyoung.

“Where’s Johnny?” Yuta says. He glances back down at his phone.

Realization dawns on Doyoung and embarrassment flames his cheeks. He hates that the only way Yuta will talk to him is if he thinks he’s meeting someone else. 

“Thank you,” Doyoung blurts. His speech has been forgotten; he just throws out whatever he can remember. “I know you saved me almost a month ago, but I never got to thank you, so thank you for saving my life and-”

Yuta holds up his hand. Doyoung closes his mouth. 

“I don’t need your gratitude,” Yuta says, a little rudely. “I’m not a hero.” 

Doyoung immediately grows defensive. All of this time spent hunting him down, and this is what he gets for saying thanks? 

“You don’t wear a cape or anything, but you still saved my life,” he says. “So thank you.” 

Yuta turns on his heel and starts walking away. Doyoung’s frustration from the past few weeks hits him all at once. He puts his hand up and grabs Yuta with his powers. Yuta freezes, the shock preventing him from counterattacking. 

“Let go of me,” Yuta says. His powers spark. He doesn’t want to hurt Doyoung, but he also doesn’t want to be here anymore. He was tricked, and he feels cornered. 

“Do you accept my thanks?” Doyoung says. He’s starting to sweat from the effort of holding Yuta in place. He’s started to fight him off. 

“Yes, now let me go,” Yuta says. He shoves off Doyoung’s control, knocking Doyoung off balance. He walks away, his heart racing in an uncomfortable, yet thrilling way. 

***

Yuta and Doyoung are friendly after another two weeks. They’re close to Spellbound’s favorite holiday. Doyoung has never really cared for Halloween because he thinks it feeds into the stereotypes of witches and warlocks and other supernatural beings, and seeing people dressed up like him makes him angry, but he learns that Yuta loves it. He puts on the witch hat, carries around the broom, everything. 

Taeil has started teaching Yuta and Doyoung together since they have the same powers. They’re practicing in the forest now, working on their radars. Yuta’s is wider and stronger than Doyoung’s, which is slightly infuriating. Taeil says he’s doing good for the year that he’s in, but he argues that Yuta’s in the same year and doing much better.

“I’ve just had to adapt,” Yuta says. 

Doyoung has asked him about the witch hunter killing, but Yuta isn’t very forthcoming with information. He always changes the subject or gives some vague explanation about it being chance that he was in the forest to save Doyoung. He doesn’t buy it, but he can tell Yuta doesn’t feel comfortable opening up to him yet, so he lets it go. 

They practice for an hour before lunch begins. Taeil tells them both that they did good work before dismissing them. 

“There’s a party happening next Friday,” Yuta starts as they walk to the cafeteria. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous, but his hands are starting to sweat. 

His relationship with Doyoung is purely platonic. He has no romantic feelings for Doyoung. Sure, he’s really attractive, and he’s extremely smart, annoyingly so, he’s kind of funny when he’s not being frustrating…

“A Halloween party?” Doyoung’s voice snaps him out of his reverie. Doyoung’s nose wrinkles in disdain. “Not my kind of thing.” 

“It’s just a little get together Johnny’s throwing,” Yuta says quickly. He doesn’t know why he’s feeling disappointed. If Doyoung doesn’t want to go to a party, then he doesn’t want to. “There won’t be that many people.”

Doyoung hasn’t known Johnny long, but you don’t have to to know that Johnny is extremely popular and this “get together” will most definitely be a big party. 

But if Yuta’s there, it shouldn’t be too bad, right? 

***

It’s a party. 

A full-fledged house party, the bumping music, the alcohol, the entire campus smashed into one of the frat houses.

Yes, Spellbound has frats.

Doyoung is sitting on the couch with six other people squished next to him. Yuta is nowhere to be found. Johnny is running around the house, trying to talk to everyone. 

In Doyoung fashion, he showed up costumeless, while everyone else was dressed up in angel costumes, a weird firefighter, and Yuta carrying around a broom with the tallest witch hat on his head. 

Yuta appears out of nowhere, startling Doyoung. “Are you having fun?” he yells over the music. Doyoung can feel his eardrums bursting. 

He shakes his head. “I’m gonna go,” he says.

Yuta’s heart drops. He wanted Doyoung to have fun. He wanted to get closer to him. 

On impulse, he grabs Doyoung’s hand and hauls him off of the couch and up the stairs. Doyoung’s nerves start buzzing. Upstairs at a house party with a cute boy? He thought this only happened in teen movies. 

Yuta leads him into one of the empty bedrooms and shuts the door. Doyoung lets out an uncomfortable laugh as he stands in the space.

Yuta plops onto the bed, patting the space next to him. The few drinks he had are making him brave. 

“Are you drunk?” Doyoung says. He sits on the edge of the bed, making sure to keep space between himself and Yuta. 

Yuta shakes his head. “I figured we could talk better here,” he says. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Doyoung wants to go home. He wants to change into his pajamas and succumb to beautiful sleep. He also wants to be here, in this room, alone, with a pretty boy who he may or may not be interested in. 

They talk about everything and nothing. Doyoung learns so many little things about Yuta, how he hasn’t been home in over a year, how his pet fish died, how he used to be super athletic before he started focusing on his powers. Doyoung has inched closer to Yuta, so close that he can feel Yuta’s body heat. 

Yuta turns his head and his breath catches in his throat. The light from the lamp in the room fully illuminates Doyoung’s face, how red his cheeks are. Yuta’s hand moves of its own accord, his fingers brushing against Doyoung’s face. 

“You sure you’re not drunk?” It was meant to be funny, but it comes out a little breathless. 

Yuta’s hand drops back to his side. He shouldn’t do this. How did he go from avoiding Doyoung at all costs to sitting in a frat house bedroom staring at his mouth?

Doyoung puts his hands on Yuta’s shoulders. He hasn’t kissed anyone since he was a kid, but he wants to kiss Yuta. Yuta’s eyes widen, but his lips part ever so slightly. 

Doyoung leans in and presses his lips against Yuta’s. Doyoung pulls away before Yuta can really process that it happened. Their powers spark together, the light blinking. 

“Do you want to go home?” Yuta says. His cheeks are flushed and he can’t keep his eyes from flitting back to Doyoung’s mouth. 

Doyoung slowly shakes his head. “I think I’ll stay a little longer,” he says.

Yuta stands up and holds out his hand. Now they’re in that awkward friends-but-we-kissed stage, which causes a million questions to run through their heads, but Doyoung takes his hand, enjoying the warmth that the touch brings.


End file.
